JPH10127224A - Sterilization of chicken egg - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for sterilizing chicken eggs capable of solving troublesomeness in processes to forwarding and uncertainty of safety of the merchandise after the forwarding, reducing a distributive cost and enhancing reliability of qualities by using a devised and improved egg packaging container and sterilizing chicken eggs in a packed state with a packaging case. SOLUTION: A packaging body 1 is made by putting chicken eggs in an egg packaging container consisting of a container body formed by arranging plural concave parts for holding eggs and a lid body and having plural air vents for bactericidal gas to flow into surrounding walls around the concave part for holding eggs. The packaging body is put in a sterilization device 3 in a state of the packaging body 1 or being put in a packaging case 2 having air vents and the air in the sterilization device 3 is replaced with a bactericidal gas to carry out the objective sterilization treatment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for sterilizing chicken eggs, and more particularly to sterilizing and disinfecting chicken eggs packed in a devised packaging container in a packaged state that can be distributed as a commercial product. The present invention relates to a method of sterilizing chicken eggs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is essential that a product such as a chicken egg does not rot in a distribution channel from packaging to a consumer's hand. Therefore, conventionally, a chicken egg is sterilized and disinfected prior to packaging. Later, it was stored in a container and shipped. On the other hand, as is well known, conventional containers, which are generally used for packaging eggs and formed by bulging a synthetic resin sheet material, are roughly divided into a container body and a lid, each of which is formed as a separate body. One in which the lid is fitted on the main body, the container main body and the lid are foldable at one side edge thereof so as to be freely formed, and the lid is folded and fitted on the container main body. Most of the containers have a structure, but in all cases, the container was simply formed by bulging a sheet material into a required shape.

[0003] Therefore, when packaging eggs using a conventional molded container using this kind of synthetic resin sheet material, the eggs are inserted into the egg receiving recess formed in the container, and the lid is placed on the container body. In a container in which the lid is fitted and closed or the container body and the lid body are formed in a series, the lid body is folded and fitted on the container body, and then the free end of the overlapped container body and the lid body. The side edges are sealed with adhesive tape, or packaged so that the lid does not come off by means such as spot fusion or stapling, and in any case it is closed without considering air permeability. It was packaged in a state.

[0004]

Since the eggs are packaged in a closed state as described above, the eggs are not spoiled in the distribution channel from the packaging until they reach the consumer, as described above. Conventionally, chicken eggs are sterilized prior to packaging, and then stored and packaged in a container before being shipped, which requires a process for disinfection, which is troublesome.
Moreover, only chicken eggs are conventionally sterilized, and the containers remain stored near the production site, so if this container becomes contaminated, guarantee the safety of the product at the distribution stage. Had a problem to be solved that was difficult.

Therefore, the present inventor paid attention to such circumstances, and in particular, used a modified egg packaging container, sterilized and disinfected together with the packaging box in a state where the eggs were packed and packed in the container. Aims to provide a method of sterilizing chicken eggs that eliminates the complexity of the process up to shipping and the uncertainty of the goods after shipping, and can reduce distribution costs and improve quality reliability. It is assumed that.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of sterilizing a chicken egg according to the present invention, which comprises a container body 10 having a plurality of egg accommodating recesses 11 formed side by side, and a lid 13. Eggs are housed in a chicken egg packaging container in which ventilation holes 12 for infiltrating a sterilizing gas into the wall portion surrounding the accommodation recess 11 are formed at a plurality of places to form a package 1. In a state where the package 1 is further packed in a packing box 2 provided with a vent hole 22, the package 1 is housed in a sterilizing apparatus 3, and the air in the sterilizing apparatus 3 is replaced with a sterilizing gas to perform a sterilization process.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In carrying out the present invention,
Use ozone as a germicidal gas. Ozone is an allotrope of oxygen that we normally breathe, but it has an effective germicidal effect even in a dilute state. It has the feature that no harmful products remain on the disinfection object. At the time of use, the ozone concentration in the sterilizer 3 is 3 PPM to 10 PPM.
The time for aeration in ozone is suitably 20 to 90 minutes. As a facility, a chamber or the like used for normal disinfection and sterilization and insect killing can be used as the sterilization apparatus 3. While the air inside the sterilizer 3 is exhausted by the suction pump, ozone is supplied from the ozone tank 5 to replace the discharged air, thereby filling the interior of the sterilizer 3 with ozone. When the sterilization operation is completed, the ozone in the sterilization device 3 is returned to the ozone tank 5, and air flows again to replace the ozone,
Ozone is prevented from being released into the atmosphere and wasted and causing environmental pollution.

[0008] For packaging eggs, a packaging container having a generally well-known outer shape obtained by molding a synthetic resin sheet or the like is used. Alternatively, it may be obtained by molding recycled paper or making a pulp-like paper into a predetermined shape. It is composed of a container body 10 and a lid 13, and a plurality of egg storage recesses 11 are formed side by side. In this container, a part for storing the upper half of the egg is formed in the lid 13 and a part for storing the lower half is formed in the container body 10.
A container in which a container and a lid 13 are formed as a series and a chicken egg accommodating recess 11 having a depth capable of accommodating the whole egg are formed in the container main body 10, and the lid 13 is formed as a flat plate-shaped separate body. In any case, ventilation holes 12 are formed in the side walls of the container body 10 and the lid 13 of the packaging container so that ozone for sterilization easily diffuses to the surface of the packaged eggs during the sterilization process. Are drilled.

The container body 10 containing the eggs is closed by fitting the lid 13 to form the package 1 in a packed state. After the packaging process, the eggs remain in package 1
Alternatively, the package 1 is housed in an ozone atmosphere in a state of being finally packed in a shipping packing box 2 further provided with a vent hole 22 and sterilized. The ozone replaced by a part of the air and filled in the sterilizer 3 passes through the ventilation hole 12 of the packaging container and the ventilation hole 22 of the packing box 2 and fills the area around the eggs,
The egg packaging container and the packaging box as well as the eggs are disinfected and sterilized in a lump, and the complete and uniform sanitary packaging of the eggs is completed. After the disinfection is completed, it can be shipped as it is. By this chicken egg hygiene packaging, the sterilization work performed only on the chicken eggs in advance can be omitted, the cost for shipping can be reduced, and the hygiene condition is extremely excellent compared with the conventional means of disinfecting and packaging only the chicken eggs, It is possible to increase the reliability of the product.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway explanatory view of the method for sterilizing eggs according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a closed state of the egg packaging container used in the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a packing state.

FIG. 1 shows, as an example, equipment for a method for sterilizing chicken eggs according to the present invention. Reference numeral 3 denotes a sterilizing apparatus which is a main part of the embodiment of the present invention. An air removal tank 4 for supplying and discharging air from the sterilizing apparatus 3 and an ozone tank 5 for supplying ozone are connected to the sterilizing apparatus 3 by piping.

[0012] The eggs are stored in the egg packaging container and the package 1
Then, it is packaged as it is or further packed in the packing box 2 and can be shipped, and is housed in the sterilizing device 3 as clearly shown by the cutout portion of the sterilizing device 3 in FIG. Next, the pump is operated to discharge the air in the sterilizer to the air removal tank 4, and the ozone diluted to a predetermined concentration is supplied from the ozone tank 5 by the pump to replace the air in the sterilizer and replace the air in the sterilizer. Between the objects to be sterilized such as the package 1 and the packing box 2. A predetermined time, that is, about 2
During the period of 0 to 90 minutes, the ozone penetrates through the ventilation holes 12 and 22 of the egg packaging container and the box to the surface of the egg and sterilizes and disinfects the egg and the egg packaging container and the packaging box. After the sterilization operation is completed, the ozone returns to the ozone tank 5, and air is supplied from the air removal tank 4 to replace the ozone in the sterilization apparatus 3 with air. In addition, regarding the replacement of ozone with air, the air removal tank 4 may be omitted, and air intake and exhaust may be performed directly from the surrounding atmosphere.

The sterilizer 3 of the present invention and the sterilizer 3
In the ancillary equipment such as the ozone tank 5 and the air removal tank 4 described above, the above-mentioned replacement of air with ozone, a predetermined time for aerating the object to be sterilized with ozone, the ozone concentration in the sterilizer 3, the opening and closing of the door 31 The conditions such as the volume of the sterilizing apparatus 3 are all set by the operation panel 32, and thereafter, the management is automatically controlled.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an example of a chicken egg packaging container used in the sterilization method of the present invention. Both of them have the same external shape as a commonly used chicken egg packaging container, and the one shown in FIG. 2 is formed by swelling a synthetic resin sheet so that a container body 10a and a lid 13a become a series, and the container body 10a has Egg storage recesses 11a for storing the lower half of the eggs are arranged in ten rows and two rows. The lid 13a is formed with a chicken egg accommodating recess 11c for accommodating the upper half of the egg. On the side wall and the upper wall of the container body 10a and the lid 13a, which form the above-mentioned egg storage recess 11a and the egg storage recess 11c,
A ventilation hole 12 through which the ozone gas flows is formed.

Further, another example of the egg packaging container shown in FIG. 3 comprises a container body 10b and a lid 13b, and both the container body 10b and the lid 13b are formed as a series of synthetic resin sheets by vacuum molding. FIG. 2 shows a state before the package is closed and the lid is closed. There are five egg-housing recesses 11b that are deep enough to accommodate the lower half of eggs.
The egg storage recess 11c for storing the upper half of the same egg as the example shown in FIG. 2 is formed in the lid 13b on the lid 13b. . A plurality of ventilation holes 12 are formed in the inclined side wall surface surrounding the egg housing recess 11b of the container body 10b and the egg housing recess 11c of the lid 13b. Lid 1
Labels such as a product description, a trademark, and a barcode pattern are attached to the upper surface of 3b. Although the ventilation hole 12 is not formed in the upper surface of the illustrated lid 13b, it may be provided in the gap between the above-mentioned display items such as the product description and the trademark.

The eggs are stored in the above-mentioned egg packaging container to form a package 1, which is packed in a packing box 2 made of corrugated cardboard or the like, put into a shippable packaging state, and stored in the sterilizing apparatus 3. . The packing box 2 is provided with a number of ventilation holes 21 for allowing ozone to flow into the eggs in the package 1.
FIG. 4 shows the packing state of the package 1. The egg packaging container used for the package 1 may have any shape as long as the ventilation hole 12 is provided.
Uses a different type of egg packaging container than that shown in FIGS.

The embodiments which are considered to be representative of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the structures of these embodiments, but includes the structural requirements according to the present invention. The present invention can be implemented by appropriately modifying it within the range of achieving the object and having the following effects.

[0018]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a vent hole is provided in a chicken egg container formed of a sheet-like material, and the chicken egg is stored in a packaged state in a sterilizing apparatus. Since it is kept in an atmosphere with an increased ozone concentration and disinfected, it also disinfects and disinfects the egg packaging container and packing box together with the eggs, and completes the sanitary packaging of the eggs in a complete and uniform state. Can be shipped as is. Therefore, the conventional sterilization operation of disinfecting only eggs before packaging can be omitted, so that the packaging process can be shortened and costs can be reduced.

Further, by employing the method for sterilizing eggs of the present invention, the egg packaging container and the packaging box are disinfected and sterilized together with the eggs as described above, so that the hygiene condition of the products is extremely good and the reliability of the products is improved. This can be expected to have the effect of increasing the number of customers. Ozone used for disinfection and disinfection is an allotrope of oxygen that we breathe daily, and since it has a very low concentration and does not leave harmful residues, ordinary sterilization equipment can be used for use. It does not increase the special costs for. Therefore, in combination with the cost savings due to the shortening of the packaging process, the merchandise value and reliability are improved for both sellers and consumers, and high-quality services are provided to the market, and profits are improved for producers. The effect that it brings is able to be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a method for sterilizing chicken eggs of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a closed state of the first example of the egg packaging container.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a closed state of a second example of the egg packaging container.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a packed state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Package body 10 Container main body 11 Egg accommodation recessed part 12 Vent hole 13 Lid 2 Packing box 21 Packing box ventilation hole 3 Sterilizer 31 Door 32 Sterilizer operation panel 4 Air removal tank 5 Ozone tank

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A container body (10) having a plurality of egg storage recesses (11) formed side by side and a lid (13), and a sterilizing gas is applied to a wall portion surrounding the egg storage recess (11). Eggs are stored in a chicken egg packaging container in which ventilation holes (12) for infiltration are formed at a plurality of locations to form a package (1), and the package (1)
As it is, in a state where the packaging body (1) is further packed in a packaging box (2) provided with a ventilation hole (22), it is housed in a sterilization device (3),
A method for sterilizing chicken eggs, wherein air in the sterilizing device (3) is replaced with sterilizing gas and sterilized. 2. The germicidal gas is ozone, and the ozone concentration in the sterilizer (3) is set at 3 to 10 PPM.
The method for sterilizing chicken eggs according to claim 1, wherein the eggs are sterilized for 90 to 90 minutes.